ViroPharma Incorporated Drug Appeal Seen Driving 50% Return: Real M&A

ViroPharma Inc. (VPHM), the maker of drugs for rare diseases that rallied on optimism it will be the next biotechnology takeover target, could fetch a 50 percent premium in a deal. The stock already surged as much as 34 percent to a 13-year high after Bloomberg News reported ViroPharma is working with Goldman Sachs (GS) Group Inc. on a possible auction and attracted interest from suitors including European drugmakers Sanofi and Shire Plc (SHP), citing people familiar with the process. JMP Group Inc. said the $2.6 billion seller of a treatment for hereditary angioedema, an inflammatory condition, could fetch $60 a share, compared with $40 yesterday.

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